In conventional air conditioners, as shown in the Japanese Patent Laying Open Gazette No. 2-146448, a plurality of indoor units are connected to a remote control and connected to an integral controllar, in which driving signals and temperature setting signals are transmitted and received between the indoor units and the remote control and driving signals are transmitted and received between each of the indoor units and the integral controller, thereby controlling air conditioning.
Further, respective indoor addresses are previously set to the respective indoor units so that control signals are transmitted and received between each of the indoor units and the integral controller based on the respective indoor addresses.
Problems to be solved
In the above-mentioned air conditioner, the indoor address of the indoor unit is set by a DIP switch, a remote control or the like. However, when an improper setting is made between the integral controller and the indoor address managed by the integral controller, a communication error is generated.
In detail, for example, there has been recently increased the number of indoor units to be provided in an air conditioner and at the same time it is intended that a plurality of integral controllers are provided to divide the indoor units into a plurality of blocks and that the indoor units are integrally managed in each block by each integral controller. In this case, since the number of indoor units to be managed by each integral controller is limited, a range of address settings is defined in each integral controller. On the other hand, the indoor address is set by the remote control or the like. When an indoor address other than the range of address settings is set to an indoor unit, communication cannot be established between the integral controller in question and the indoor unit in question thereby generating a communication error.
Further, once an indoor address is set to an indoor unit, the integral controller automatically stores the indoor address at the power-on and establishes communication with the indoor unit based on the stored indoor address. However, when the indoor address is changed by the remote control or the like, the indoor address for communication is lost, thereby generating a communication error. As a result, in order to recover from the communication error, the power of the integral controller must be reset.
In view of the foregoing problems, this invention has been made. An object of this invention is to prevent an improper setting of address and have the ability of responding to an address change thereby preventing a communication error.